As wheat farmers from across the United States gather this week in Atlanta for their annual industry conference, a few Canadians will be on hand trying to do their bit for Canada-U.S. relations.
They plan to talk with farm organization leaders, trade representatives, government officials and ordinary American wheat growers about issues that have driven the two countries apart and those that could bring them together.
While those conversations may not yield immediate benefits, the Canadians hope the discussions will help avoid future conflicts that have marked cross-border wheat industry relations in recent years.
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“It’s really a fact-finding and relationship-building venture,” said Larry Hill, a director of the Canadian Wheat Board and chair of its trade committee.
In recent months, the wheat board has sent representatives to meet with wheat industry groups in Kansas, Nebraska and North Dakota, the American Farm Bureau Federation and the U.S. National Farmers Union.
It’s part of an effort to educate Americans about the Canadian grain marketing system and to dispel what Hill called the myths that fuel U.S. hostility toward Canadian trade practices.
The response has been generally positive, he said.
The U.S. groups are often surprised by what they’re told, such as that the board is run by elected farmer directors and not the federal government.
“Whether we’ll see immediate benefits I’m not sure, but the pressure that comes on the U.S. trade representative to take action comes from U.S. farm groups, so if we can do anything to lower that pressure it can only help,” Hill said.
Grain Growers of Canada will also be at the U.S. wheat conference. Executive director Cam Dahl said his organization wants to work with U.S. farm groups on issues of common interest.
“Obviously, there are going to be issues where we’ll have differences of opinion, like the wheat tariffs, but where we can work together, I think it’s really important that we do so.”
He said one example where Canadian and American farmers can work together is standardized pesticide regulations between the two countries to address issues surrounding the availability and price of certain chemicals.
Farmers on both sides of the border also have to deal with issues such as lack of railway competition and the introduction of genetically modified Roundup Ready wheat.
The wheat industry conference brings together three national wheat industry organizations for their annual meetings: the National Association of Wheat Growers, which is the main lobby group for U.S. wheat farmers; U.S. Wheat Associates, a grower-funded trade promotion group; and the Wheat Export Trade Education Committee, which lobbies on wheat trade issues.
A vote will be held at this year’s meeting on a proposal to merge those three groups into one overarching wheat industry organization.
NAWG vice-president Mark Gage, a North Dakota farmer who is expected to take over as president for 2004, agreed there are issues on which farmers from both sides of the border can work together.
But he said U.S. growers will not pull back from their fight against what they see as the CWB’s unfair trading practices.
“I’m sure there will be a resolution expressing support for the North Dakota Wheat Commission,” he said, referring to the organization that initiated the effort to impose tariffs on Canadian wheat.
The CWB and the governments of Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan are appealing the wheat tariff to a panel under the North American Free Trade Agreement, with a decision expected late this year.
Adrian Ewins is covering the conference in Atlanta, Georgia. His reports will appear next week.
